Tuck-making device



June 9, 1936. ITQE. CARROLL ET AL I 7 TUCK-MAKING DEVICE Filed April 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7/7574 ATTORNEYS June 9, 1936.

T. E. CARROLL ET AL -MAKING DEVICE Filed April 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (II/l1 7lr4 nvilllllllffllll BY M TIM/1r ATTORNEYS Patented June 9, 1936 v UNITED STATES,

TUCK-MAKING DEVICE Thomas E. Carroll and Frederick J. Meyers, New York, N. Y.

Application April 16, 1932, Serial No. 605,703

9 Claims.

This invention relates to tuck-making devices and more, particularly to an attachment for. sewing machines whereby graduated or fancy tucks may be made as accurately and uniformly and with the same facility as straight tucks. More particularly the invention relates to devices. for automatically graduating or varyingthe distance between the line of stitching and the edge of the tuck fold, so that when graduated tucks, for example, are started at a given uniform spacing they will, when completed, be of uniform length and of a uniformly increased spacingthroughout their entire length.

In the devices heretofore proposed for making such tucks, of which we are aware, the arrangement of the mechanism has been complicated and cumbersome, occupying considerable space upon the sewing machine table, and requiring an undue amount of maintenance and lubrication. Also, they are of a sort which are apt to soil. the work. The operation of these prior devices was objec tionable because of the difficulty in setting the mechanism at the proper point for starting a tuck.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a device for making graduated tucks which occupies substantially the same amount of space and is manipulated by the operator in substantially the same manner as the ordinary fixed or straight tuck-making attachment to which the operators are accustomed, thereby obvia'ting the necessity of giving the operators special instruction in the use of the improved attachment. I

Another object of our invention is to provide a tuck-making device which the operator can readily reset at starting position upon the completion of a tuck, regardless of whether the tuck is of such length as to utilize the full range of graduation of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tuck-making device which in the case of thread breakage, or the exhaustion of the thread on the bobbin, the tuck graduation control mechanism can be readily adjusted by the operator to continue the graduation of the tuck from the point where the stitching is interrupted.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tuck-making device which can be readily modified as to its operation so as to produce graduated tucks of different designs and dimensions.

Theaim of the invention is further to provide a tuck-making device of the utmost simplicity, low in cost, and capable of operation over long periods of time-without attention either for repair or lubrication.

The invention will be understood from a con-. sideration of the accompanying drawings together with the following description from which additional features of the invention will appear. In these drawings there is illustrated our present best embodiment of the invention and it will be understood that changes may be made in the construction from that illustrated without exceeding the scope of the invention which is definedin the appended claims.

In these drawings 7 Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sewing machine with the tucking mechanism of our invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the tucking mechanism shown in Fig. l to illustrate the details of the construction;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionltaken on IineAP I ofFig.3;

Fig. 5 illustrates one form of control cam;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3

Fig. -7 is a, horizontal section taken on line 1--'l of Fig. 3;

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a fragment of fabric having uniformly graduated tucks as produced by the mechanism of our invention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, and first to Figs. 8 and 9, the fabric l contains a plurality of graduated tucks 2 such as may be sewed in the fabric by means of our improved machine. It will be noted that the tucks or folds 2 are secured by lines of stitching 3, and that these lines of stitching gradually approach the edges of the tucks toward the bottom of the fabric. This is what is known as a graduated tuck. A straight tuck is one in which the lines of stitching are parallel with the edges of the tuck folds. 7

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, there is here illustrated a sewing machine having a table 4, mounted at the right-hand end of which is the usual overhanging arm 5 which supports at its left-hand end the mechanism for actuating the needle 6 of the. stitch-forming mechanism. The shuttle and other parts of the stitch-forming mechanism and the feeding mechanism for feeding the material to the stitch-forming mechanism, none of which are shown in the drawings, are contained within a housing 1 (see Fig, 3) which is suppo ted upon t e table and th reby elevates the stitching or sewing level above the top of table 4. The various shafts, cams, etc. for actuating the stitch-forming mechanism are contained in the housing 1 and the overhanging arm 5, and are driven by means of shaft 8 shown at the right of Fig. 1, power for driving which is applied by means of a small belt 9 to a suitable pulley mounted upon this shaft.

In order to properly guide the fabric I0 or other material in which the tucks are to be formed to the stitch-forming mechanism, there is provided a blade or knife II of thin, preferably flexible, sheet metal. The fabric is folded around the right-hand straight edge I2 of this guiding blade so that one fold of the fabric is beneath the blade and the other fold on top of the blade, the fold along the straight edge I2 forming the edge of the tuck to be formed. The straight edge I2 serves to guide the fabric along the inside edge of the tuck to the stitch-forming mechanism, the edge of the tuck being delivered to the stitch-forming mechanism at a distance to the right of needle 6 of this mechanism equal to the desired width of the tuck.

' The feeding mechanism of the sewing machine causes the fabric to advance across the table 4, and a line of stitching I3 is formed, thereby sewing together the two folds of the tuck. The operator holds the material lightly against the upper and lower surfaces of the outer end of blade II with the thumb and fingers so as to keep the material feeding as desired along the line of the edge of the tuck. If the blade II is maintained in .stationary position with respect to the stitchforming mechanism, the line of stitching I3 will be parallel with the edge of the tuck and a straight tuck will therefore be formed. If, however, the blade II is gradually moved to the left during the progress of the stitching, the line of stitching will gradually approach the edge of the tuck as shown in Fig. 1 and a graduated tuck of the sort illustrated in Fig. 8 will be made.

The mechanism about to be described serves to properly support the blade II, and to move the blade to the left as the stitching of the tuck progresses, so as to bring the line of stitching closer and closer to the edge of the tuck. Briefly this mechanism comprises a cam 24, which is driven from the shaft 8 of the stitch-forming mechanism through a flexible shaft'24a and a reduction gearing contained in a housing I4 which also forms a support for the cam and for blade I I.

.The support or housing I4 is fixed to table 4 of the sewing machine near the left-hand end thereof, and is of substantially equal height with the housing I. As in the case of the mechanism now in use for forming straight tucks, blade I I is mounted on the end of an arm I5 consisting of a rigid metal bar which is pivoted at its opposite end to the support to permit the blade to be swung away from the stitch-forming mechanism so as to facilitate the folding of the material about the blade.

An arm I5 is pivotally mounted upon the upper surface of support I4 by means of a shouldered bushing I6 which is tapped into an aperture in the top wall of this support. Bushing I6 holds the arm I5 firmly against the flat upper surface of support I4 so that arm I5 is mounted to swing in a horizontal plane and at the same time firmly support the blade II, which is mounted at its outer end, both when this blade is in its operative position as shown in the full lines of the drawings and also when itis swung outwardly to its dotted position as shown in Fig. 1 for the purpose of folding the material about the blade preparatory to the starting of a tuck-forming operation. In order to insure adequate rigidity to the support of arm I5 the upper surface of support I5 is of ample area and bushing I6 is located toward the left-hand side of the support as viewed in Figs. 3, 1, and 2.

The mounting of blade II on arm I5 is as follows: Arm I5 has a slot II which extends longitudinally of the arm throughout the greater portion of its length. In this slot a slide bar I8 is mounted and is held in slidable position within the slot by means of two screws or rivets I9, one near each end of the bar, which project through suitable slots 28. In order to bias slide I8 to the right as viewed in the drawings, a helical spring fl is mounted beneath the arm I5 and attached at one end to one of the screws I9 and at its opposite end to a pin 22 which is fixed to the arm. Blade II is adjustablymounted upon slide bar I8 by means of two screws 23 which pass through slots in the blade I I and are threaded into the bar.

The movement of blade II to cause the formation of a graduated tuck is effected by cam 24, the motion of the cam being imparted to bar I8 by cam follower 25. Preferably the cam follower consists of a friction reducing roller mounted loosely upon a pin. The pin is secured to the lefthand end of a plate 26. Plate 26 is attached by means of a pair of rivets 21 at its right-hand end to the slide bar I8 and is provided with a wide slot 28, the walls of which snugly fit the head of bushing I8.

It will be understood that the rotation of cam 26 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, which is the direction shown by the arrow of Fig. 1, will cause the slide I3 and, consequently, the blade I I to be moved to the left against the action of spring 2|, and that when the cam follower 26 passes the end of cam 2 3 spring 2! will cause the blade II and slide I8 to move to the right, back to their original positions. It will also be understood that by means of the screws 23, the guiding edge I2 of blade II may be adjusted with respect to the stitch-forming mechanism so as to start the formation of tucks of any width desired.

The support I4 is hollow and contains the mechanism for supporting and turning cam 24. Cam 24 is removably secured upon the upper end of a vertical shaft 29 by means of a thumb nut 30 which is threaded upon the shaft. The portion of the shaft immediately beneath the nut is flattened or slabbed at 3| to receive the rectangular aperture 32 of the cam. Shaft 25} has a bearing at its upper end in the bushing I6 and at its lower end in a boss 33 formed as a part of the base 34.

Cam shaft 29 is driven by means of a doublereduction gearing consisting of the worm 35 and worm gear 36, and bevel pinion 3'! which drives bevel gear 38 mounted loosely on shaft 29. Worm gear 36 and pinion 31 are preferably formed integrally and mounted for rotation on a pin 39 shown in dotted lines in Fig.7 which is fixed to a side wall of the hollow support or housing I l. Mounted above bevel gear 38 on cam shaft 29 is a collar 40 which is slidable vertically on the shaft but connected therewith to rotate the shaft by means of a pin 4!. This pin is driven into an aperture in the shaft and coacts with the walls of a longitudinal slot in the upper part of the collar. A helical spring 42 forces collar '30 against the upper surface of bevel gear 38 to effect the driving of one part by the other. The

coacting surfaces of these two-parts preferably have interengaging ratchetteeth 43 thereby providing a one-way clutch for positively driving coned as shown at 45 to form a cam surface which engages the upper wallof a circular recess 41 formed in the surface of collar 40. Release rod 44 slides in an aperture formed in a boss 48, and a pin 49 driven through an aperture in the rod slides in a slot in boss 48 and prevents the removal of the rod. When the knob 45 is pushed inwardly collar 40 is raised, thereby disengaging the two clutch members, and when the knobis pulled out to the position shown in the drawings the clutch members are allowed to engage one another.

The worm 35 is mounted upon'the upper end of a short vertical shaft 50 which has a bearing in an aperture formed in an elongated boss on the base 34. Collars are provided near each end of this shaft to take the thrust of the worm drive and to prevent escape of lubricant.

The base-34 of housing I4 is fitted within a recess in the bottom of the housing. Dowel pins 34a are provided in order to hold the lower bearing of shaft 29 in accurate alignment with its upper bearing and also maintain the worm 35 in proper operating position with respect to Worm gear 36. A tight joint is provided between the base and the housing, and the entire housing is filled with a suitable lubricant so that the mechanism will operate for yearswithout attention. Housing 14 is secured to the table 4 of the sewing machine by bolts or screws, bolts being shown in the drawings, and these fastenings also serve to clamp the housing against the base.

The driving core of the flexible shaft 24a is received within a recess in the lower end of the boss in which shaft 50 is mounted and secured therein by means of a set screw 5|. The flexible shaft 24a is of the sort which is comprised of a flexible core and flexible casing, the core, for

example, being constructed of helically wound ,wire, and the casing of leather or flexible cable armor.

The flexible shaft is carried diagonally beneath the table 4 as shown in Fig. 1, and is preferably long enough to hang in a loop of sufficient size to prevent sharp bends. The opposite end of the flexible shaft is brought out through a diagonally placed aperture 52 in the table 4 and connected to one end of a short shaft 53 which is suitably mounted in a bracket 54 attached to the upper surface of table 4. On shaft 53 at the right of bracket 54 is a set of stepped pulleys 55 which is driven by means of a belt 56 from a similar but reversed set of stepped pulleys 51 on shaft 8.

In placing our improved tucking machine in operation the position of blade H with respect to the stitch-forming mechanism is first adjusted by means of a stop 58 which determines the posi- .tion of the point of the blade in advance of. the

needle o. Then by loosening the screws 23 the blade is. shifted until the guide edge I2 is posi- .the appropriate design of cam;24;is selected to .is in contact with the cam follower 25.

produce the style of tucking which it is desired to-make.

It will be understood that by employing cams having'suitable configurations, the shapev of the line of stitching can be varied as desired. Thus, if a cam of spiral configuration, such as cam 24, is employed, uniformly graduated tucks such as those illustratedin Fig. 8 will be produced. If, however, it is desired to produce tucks which are part straight and part graduated, a portion of the periphery of the cam will be made circular instead of spiral. Also, should it be desired to impart a wavy form to the line of stitching l3, a cam having an undulating surface would be used, the undulating surface having a circle as its base if straight tucks with wavy stitching are tobe produced, and the undulating surface having a spiral as its base if graduated tucks having .Wavy stitching are to be formed.

Assuming that graduated tucks as shown in Fig. 8 are to be made, a spiral cam such as cam 24 is placed upon the shaft 29. The next thing is to adjust belt 56 onto the proper pair of stepped pulleys 55 and 51 to rotate cam 24 at the proper speed to give the desired taper or pitch to the line of stitching I3 with respect to the edge of the tuck. Also, cam 24 must be rotated through somewhat less than one complete revolution for each length of tuck. The length of tuck which may be made with belt 56 on each of the several pulleys and for the various rates of feed of the material by the feeding mechanism of the sewing machine is known. Hence, the proper belt position is selected for the length of tuck which it is desired to make, and refinements in adjusting the length of tuck with respect to the revolution of cam 24 are obtained by adjusting the sewing machine feeding mechanism.

After theproper adjustments of the machine have been made the operator swings arm l5 and blade H to the dotted position shown in Fig. 1, and folds the fabric around the guide edge l2 of the blade. The blade is then swung into the full line position until arm l5 strikes stop 58 and cam 24 is turned to the position shown in Fig. 2 where the smallest diameter of the cam Then the material is fed into the feeding mechanism of the sewingmachine and the sewing machine is started in the usual way. The material is fed continuously along the blade I I as previously described until the entire width of the material has passed through the machine and the first tuck is completed. As cam 24 rotates in the counterclockwise direction, friction between the cam and cam follower 25 tends to urge arm l5 against its stop 58 and thus aids the operator in keeping blade I l in its proper position.

When the first tuck is completed the operator severs the thread and swings arm l5 back to the dotted position as shown in Fig. 1. Cam 24, at the end of the sewing of a tuck is in approximately the position shown in Fig. 1, and as arm I5 is swung outwardly, inasmuch as the arm is pivoted concentrically with the cam, cam follower 25 is simultaneously moved until it passes the end of the cam, and spring 2| thereupon causes bar l8 and blade ll to slide outwardly to their 7 original position.

Also, as the operator swings arm l5 back into operating position against stop 58 for the second tuck, cam 24 is automatically returned by cam follower 25 to its initial position as shown in Fig. 2. Hence, the resetting'of cam 24 for the starting of each tuck is done automatically by the swinging of arm I5. The manipulation of arm [5 is therefore the same in our improved machine as for machines heretofore in use for making straight tucks so that the operator does not require special training in the use of our machine, nor is additional skill necessary over that required in making straight tucks.

' In case of the breakage of a thread before a tuck is completed, or in the event of exhaustion of the lower thread before a tuck is completed, it is impossible because of the inertia of the moving parts of the sewing machine to stop the machine at the exact instant that the breakage 0r exhaustion occurs, hence, cam 24 is necessarily turned beyond its position corresponding to that point. Therefore, in order to continue the line of stitching [3 as a continuous line instead of a broken line, it is necessary to turn cam 24 backward by the amount of the over-run. It has been impossible to do this in the machines for making graduated tucks as heretofore constructed, and it was necessary to operate the sewing machine to turn the cam through a complete revolution, or else to continue the line of stitching as a broken line rather than as a continuous sloping line. With our improved machine, however, the operator can readily turn the cam 25 backwards by hand until the line of stitching at the point where stitching ceased registers with the needle of the sewing machine.

Our improved tuck-forming mechanism can be included as part of the sewing machine when it is built, or the necessary parts of the mechanism can be added as an attachment to sewing machines already in use. Because of the construction of our improved device these parts can be very readily applied to existing machines. As shown in Fig. 1, this can be done by the drilling of two holes through the table d for the passage of flexible shaft 24a, and the application of housing I l and bracket 54 to the top of the table. As each of these parts requires only two wood screws to hold them in place, the installation can be made quickly and cheaply.

Through the employment of the flexible shaf 2 hr for operatively connecting the cam driving mechanism with the stitch-forming mechanism, all drive shafts, gears, etc. are eliminated from the sewing machine table 4 where they might come in contact with the material being operated upon whereby the material might be soiled. By the use of the flexible shaft and by the placing of the reduction gearing and clutch mechanism within the hollow support M for arm I5, the mechanism occupies substantially no more space than is required for mechanism for producing straight tucks.

We claim: 1. In a tuck-making machine having stitchforming mechanism, a blade for guiding thereto the material in which the tucks are to be formed, and an arm for supporting said blade, the combination of blade actuating means for moving said blade laterally with respect to the direction of advance of said material during the sewing of the tuck, operating mechanism for said blade-actuating means operatively connected with said stitch-forming mechanism and including means for permitting the blade actuating means to be moved independently of said operating mechanism, and means operated by said arm for resetting said blade actuating means for the starting of a tuck.

2. In a tuck-making machine having stitchforming mechanism, a blade for guiding thereto the material in which the tucks are to be formed and an arm for supporting said blade, the combination of means for moving said blade laterally with respect to the direction of advance of said material, said means including a cam, driving means for rotating the cam operatively connected with said stitch-forming mechanism and provided with means whereby the cam can be rotated independently of said driving means, a cam follower support connected with said blade to actuate the same, and means connecting said support and said arm to impart movement of the arm to said support to rotate the support and cause the cam follower to rotate the cam to reset the same.

3. In a tuck-making machine having stitchforming mechanism and a blade for guiding thereto the material in which the tucks are to be formed,,the combination of means for moving said blade laterally with respect to the direction of advance of said material, said means including a cam, driving means for rotating the cam operatively connected with said stitch-forming mechanism and provided with means whereby the cam can be rotated independently of said driving means, an arm for supporting said blade, and a cam follower carried by said arm and connected to said blade, said arm being pivoted concentrically with said cam so that by swinging said arm about its pivot the cam follower may be caused to rotate the cam to reset the same at starting position.

4. A tuck-making machine comprising a stitchforming mechanism, a blade for guiding thereto the material in which the tucks are to be formed, a cam for moving said blade laterally with respect to the direction of advance of said material, cam driving means operatively connected with the stitch-forming mechanism for rotating said cam during the sewing of the tuck, and means connecting the cam with the cam driving means, said connecting means permitting the rotation of said cam independently of said cam driving means.

5. A tuck-making machine comprising a stitchforming mechanism, a blade for guiding thereto the material in which the tucks are to be formed, a cam for moving said blade laterally with respect to the direction of advance of said material, cam driving means operatively connected with the stitch-forming mechanism for rotating r the rotation of said cam in the same direction as the cam is driven, and means for rotating the cam independently of said cam driving means after the completion of each tuck to effect the resetting of the cam for the commencement of a succeeding tuck.

6. In a tuck-making machine having a horizontally swingable arm for supporting a blade for guiding the material in which the tucks are to be formed, a housing for supporting said arm, a vertically arranged shaft extending through the top of said housing, a cam secured to the u per end of said shaft for actuating said blade to cause it to move laterally with respect to the direction of advance of the material, a gear for actuating said shaft loosely mounted upon said shaft within the said housing, and a clutch mechanism for operatively connecting said gear with said shaft.

'7. In a tuck-making machine having a horizontally swingable arm for supporting a blade for guiding the material in which the tucks are to be formed, a housing for supporting said arm, a vertically arranged shaft extending through the top of said housing, a cam secured to the upper end of said shaft for actuating said blade to cause it to move laterally with respect to the direction of advance of the material, a gear for actuating said shaft loosely mounted upon said shaft within the said housing, a clutch mechanism for operatively connecting said gear with said shaft, and a reduction gearing also mounted Within said housing for driving said gear.

8. A tuck-making machine comprising a table, sewing mechanism mounted upon said table having a shaft operatively connected with the stitchforming mechanism thereof, a bracket mounted upon said table near said shaft, a second shaft rotatably supported by said bracket, means for driving said second shaft from said first-named shaft, an arm carrying a blade for guiding to said stitch-forming mechanism the material in which tucks are to be formed, a cam for moving said blade laterally with respect to the advance of said material, a reduction gearing for actuating said cam, a housing for said reduction gearing serving also as a support for said cam and for said arm said housing being mounted on the upper surface of said table, and a flexible shaft connected at one end to said second shaft, and

extending beneath said table, the opposite end of said shaft being connected with the reduction gearing contained in said housing.

9. In a tuck-making machine having a horizontally swingable arm for supporting a blade for guiding the material in which the tucks are to be formed, a housing for supporting said arm, a shaft extending through the wall of said housing, a cam secured to the outer end of said shaft for actuating said blade to cause it to move laterally with respect to the direction of advance of the material, and driving means for rotating said shaft;

THOMAS E. CARROLL. FREDERICK J. MEYERS. 

